World Cup Connections

N. Scott Emery, P.E.Leave a comment
With the 2014 World Cup beginning tomorrow, I am reminded of my own World Cup experience. Eight years ago I spent the better part of June in Germany for work, which coincided with the 2006 World Cup. All of Germany had World Cup fever. Just being in Germany at the same time as the World Cup was a great experience, but my experience did not end there.
It was nearly impossible not to be drawn into the excitement. Every restaurant, bar, beer hall and hotel lobby had a brand new HDTV tuned to the action. On the day the Brits were in Nuremberg to play Trinidad and Tobago, I happened to be in town. The British fans overran the city. By mid-morning, Nuremberg’s historic Hauptmarkt was packed with Brits in pre-match, drunken revelry. It was later reported that there were more Brits outside Nuremberg’s Frankenstadion than there were in the stadium for the match. I was told that there was an official list of British hooligans whose passports were confiscated to keep them from showing up in Germany for the Cup and raising too much hell. Those Brits are serious about their football.
I actually got to attend the World Cup knockout stage match between Portugal and the Netherlands in Nuremburg. When we got inside the stadium and to our seats, I was overwhelmed by the dynamic, energized feel of the stadium fueled by screaming groups of orange clad Dutch and burgundy clad Portuguese fans scattered around Frankenstadion. As I surveyed the stadium, I also noticed heavy duty fences between the sections of the stadium. I asked one of my German colleagues about the fences. He explained to me that the fences keep the visitor and home team fans separated from one another to keep riots from breaking out during hotly contested matches. I scanned our section again, noting groups of orange and burgundy clad fans sitting side by side.
The match was intense and was later nicknamed The Battle of Nuremberg. Portugal won 1-0, but not before a record number of red and yellow cards were issued. Late in the match, Portugal pushed the ball out of bounds to allow an injured Dutch player to get off the pitch. When the Netherlands brought the ball back in bounds, they kept the ball instead of passing it back to Portugal as is expected in a case like this. This sent the tension level in the stadium through the roof and because it was the World Cup those fences were not separating the fans of the two teams. It got a bit scary and I took note of the shortest route to the exit. In the end, I suppose I can thank Budweiser for being the exclusive World Cup beer vendor which kept the drinking down and the fans’ tempers just in check.
While going to a World Cup elimination match was an incredible experience, my favorite World Cup experience came when I spent a weekend in Southern Bavaria’s Füssen. After a day exploring Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangua, I went to the hotel bar for a beer and to take in some World Cup action on the HDTV. It was a small place and I ended up at a table with a mixed group of locals and tourist. I managed to make conversation with the folks at the table using the little bit of German I knew and giving them a chance to practice their English. The US was playing Italy. And, as I recall, it seemed like everyone was cheering for the USA. It was really a fun night with the US playing the Italians to a 1-1 draw.

As I look back on that night, I realize that this is what the World Cup gives us. There we sat; a group of strangers, having a few beers, communicating as best we could through language barriers, collectively cheering for team USA. And, just for a couple hours, we connected with one another. So, now it begins again as it does once every four years. For a few weeks, people around the world will focus their attention on Brazil and the World Cup. The level of play will be superb, the competition will be fierce and the end result will be a true world champion. And, many times over in bars, coffee shops, and restaurants around the world, strangers will gather to watch and cheer. And, just maybe, they too will connect.

RED WAGON (an essay)

N. Scott Emery, P.E.Leave a comment
The wagon sits broken under the deck.  Its front wheels long disconnected from the wagon’s bed thanks to the workings of unchecked rust.  The wooden rails, weakened with rot and abuse, broke off the wagon much earlier and were discarded to the landfill.  The wagon can be taken to represent many things, but today it represents the constant nature and increasing velocity of change.
The Radio Flyer was one of those early birthday gifts for our twin daughters that we just had to get right.  It had to be red, it had to be classic, and it had to have side rails for safety.  I assembled the wagon with such care – each bolt aligned and tightened exactly the same as all the others.  As birthday gifts go, the costs were modest, but it was the hit of the party.
In the early going, the wagon’s main function was for my wife or me to pull the girls and their friends around the yard.  As they got older, they started pulling each other in the wagon.  This almost always led to someone getting hurt – physically or emotionally.  The wagon was a laboratory and a training tool where the girls learned the hazards of their small world and wrestled with the struggles of getting along.
As the years progressed, the wagon became a tool to haul things around the yard.  The girls hauled their toys.  They hauled dirt and rocks.  They hauled the cat and the dog.  And they still hauled each other, but with much greater speed and laughter instead of tears when they crashed.  My wife and I used the wagon for our yard work.  Everything imaginable was carried in the wagon – tomato plants, flowers, mulch, sticks, grass clippings, bags of leaves, and more.
Over the years the weather took its toll on the wagon until it could no longer be restored to a useable condition.  It has sat in the yard for months in its broken state.  I have sent many other things to the landfill during this time, but not the wagon.  The wagon is only a thing, but I have not found the will to carry it to the street for its final journey.  Deep down, this would somehow be an acknowledgment of something I have not been fully ready to face.
When we chose to become parents, we signed up for a process with the ultimate goal to send away the persons we love more than any we have loved before.  It is a noble pursuit with magnificent rewards, but one that often comes with a great sense of loss.  At each step of the way, we seem to be frozen in time with that moment being the only one that ever will be.  But the moments are not frozen, and they slip past us with ever increasing speed as our children grow.  I have always looked forward to each new step along this path of parenthood, but now I also find myself looking back and wanting to hold on just a little longer.
The red wagon we bought our baby girls is gone.  It is only scrap metal waiting to be hauled away. I know that I cannot hold on to moments past.  I know that that I must embrace the moments to come and concentrate on providing the next “red wagon” my girls need to move them along their lives’ journeys.  So, the Radio Flyer will be hauled away, and I will step confidently into the future encouraging my girls to ride their wagons wherever their hearts take them.


© 2010 Scott Emery